Solar Eclipse
by JoTerry
Summary: Rukia is taken by surprise by her brother's declaration during their sibling-bonding moment before her wedding.
**Solar Eclipse**

 **One-shot**

 **A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.**

The Kuchiki princess viewed herself nervously in the huge full-length mirror of the hotel room where the wedding was to be held. The ivory gown she had chosen for herself had a decent neckline that revealed just the tip of her almost non-existent cleavage. Despite her petite frame, the bodice fitted perfectly to define her chest, accentuating her small curves.

Her brother was the one who accompanied her to hunt for the dress in the World of the Living after he discovered that most brides here dress in a rather revealing manner for this grand but pure occasion of their lives. Yes, Kuchiki Byakuya personally researched on matrimonial rites and customs of this world when he was told that his sister and her groom wanted to have a separate ceremony for their friends in the Living World besides the one they were to hold for those in the Seireitei.

As was expected of the Kuchiki head, he wanted everything to go as smoothly and as perfect as possible to fit Rukia's status as the heiress to one of the noblest clans in Soul Society. He didn't really care much for the Shiba clan. Byakuya even offered to foot the whole bill for both weddings. But Shiba Isshin wouldn't hear of it. After all, he only had one son. The couple would go with the plans and demands of the 6th division _taichou_ but Isshin would cover the expenses regardless.

So back to the dress that was handpicked by Byakuya himself. Rukia smiled as she recalled how her brother marched (more like _glided_ , actually) towards the sleeved gown section of the bridal studio and ran his eyes down the small selection of decent-looking dresses hung majestically on the right hand side of the boutique.

 _"_ _Rukia," he called out, his voice authoritative._

 _The petite girl stepped up beside him. "Yes,_ Nii-sama _?"_

 _She watched as he fingered the three-quartered sleeve of a dress that had found his approval. The top of the dress was covered in lace. Although the torso had an underlining of silk, the sleeves, which began from the shoulder bone to the elbow, were just transparent lace. The bottom of the dress flared from its tight waistline downwards. Over that part of the silk were drapes of organza, making the gown looked exactly like what the princess in a royal palace would wear for a luxurious ball._

 _"_ _You shall wear this for the ceremony. Have it fitted accurately to your size," he ordered, without even looking at her._

 _"_ _Hai," Rukia replied with a tiny bow before she turned around to speak to the owner of the studio who had been tagging behind them since they came in. She inwardly snickered when she saw the expression on the woman's face. She was obviously taken by how handsome Byakuya was but at the same time, there's this shadow of fear as well in her eyes. She looked like she was about to pass out from the tall man's aura of power and sovereignty but was still trying really hard to be attentive to these elegant customers of hers. All Rukia needed to do was flash her a little smile to convey her request through her eyes._

 _The lady bowed lowly before taking the delicate dress and_ pleading _for the bride-to-be to follow her to the fitting room._

"Rukia- _chan_!" a delightful and high-pitched voice shook her out of her reverie. She raised her brows at the reflection of a tall, busty strawberry blonde behind who had just entered her temporary dressing room.

"Rangiku- _san_ ," she greeted with a smile.

Another busty blonde followed the _fukutaichou_ of the 10th division. Rukia's smile widened as she nodded at her former classmate in the mirror. "Orihime."

Inoue gasped. "Rukia! You look gorgeous!" she exclaimed, covering her lips with the tip of her fingers.

"Of course, she does. You should know who did her make-up for her," Matsumoto winked at Inoue before she turned back to Rukia. "I would pull you into a bone-crushing hug right now but I don't want to ruin your dress." She then walked around Rukia to admire the princess from head to toe. "Your equally-gorgeous brother has exquisite taste in fashion. How I wish he would pick one sexy outfit for me to turn him on, too," she said.

The bride cringed. "Please don't tell me you secretly fantasise about my brother." When Matsumoto gave her a cheeky grin and bit her bottom lip seductively, Rukia squeezed her eyes shut tightly to mentally shake an inappropriate image out of her head.

Matsumoto sighed. "Oh, there was a time when…"

"Rangiku- _san_ , please!" Rukia shrieked, putting a palm up at her _shinigami_ colleague to stop her from continuing what she was about to say.

"A Kuchiki does not raise her voice."

 _Crap…_ Rukia cursed inwardly. _When the hell did_ Nii-sama _come in?_

"My apologies, _Nii-sama_ ," Rukia said as she turned around and bowed slightly to her brother, disregarding the swooning idiot next to her.

Inoue also bowed and greeted him with a, "Kuchiki- _sama_."

Matsumoto repeated her seductive smile, her hands joined as her upper arms squeezed at her bust to make her humungous boobs pop out even more over the extremely low neckline of her dress as she swayed from left to right. "Byakuya- _taichou_ ," she cooed.

Rukia was surprised to see a tiny reaction on her brother's immaculately stoic face. There was a very faint shade of pink on his cheeks but he managed to keep it down as much as possible. She couldn't help but wonder if there was seriously something going on between Matsumoto and her brother back in Soul Society. Almost two years ago, she had found out from the loud-mouthed Isshin that her brother had been quite disappointed upon hearing that the former _shinigami_ had given his blessings to Hitsugaya- _taichou_ to pursue a relationship with Ichigo's sister. Rukia hadn't realised that Byakuya held a secret crush on Karin until then. Heck, she didn't even know her brother would be capable of having emotions of that sort after so many years of being alone following the death of her sister.

As usual, Byakuya was quick to evade the questioning look his sister gave him. "It is 9.45 am. I was told that it is customary for me to put the veil on for you," he said.

"Ah, yes," Rukia nodded.

Matsumoto pulled a stool for Rukia to sit on before she placed the thin veil on the bride's head. She arranged it neatly over Rukia's small bun and handed a bobby pin to Byakuya. "Just slide it through this layer of her hair. I'll pin the rest around it before you cover the veil over her face," she instructed quietly.

Byakuya took the pin from Matsumoto, ignoring the slight tingle he felt when their fingers brushed against each other, and did as he was told. After that, he watched Matsumoto set her focus on making sure the transparent cloth was secured properly on Rukia's head with a few more pins.

The _fukutaichou_ backed up a little and nodded to him, signaling that it was his personal moment with the bride before the ceremony. Inoue followed her to step aside to give the Kuchiki siblings some space.

Rukia tilted her head to look at her brother as he stood facing her. She watched as his grey eyes slowly filled with the tiniest bit of emotions. It was the first time she had seen this different side of him. She could make out a bit of pride, a bit of love, and a bit of regret in them. She knew that last part was most probably because of how he hadn't been the brother she needed when he first took her into the clan. He had even personally come for her to take her back to Soul Society to be executed years ago. Rukia smiled up at him as they both had a moment of silent reconciliation. Words weren't necessary, especially when it comes to Kuchiki Byakuya and Rukia knew it would be expecting too much of her quiet brother to say anything. But she was in for a huge surprise…

"Rukia," he called out almost inaudibly. "You are my pride," he declared as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

As if it was possible, Rukia's already large violet eyes widened at her brother's words. She tried searching his face to anticipate what he would say next but she drew a blank even though she could see him slowly removing his Kuchiki mask.

"It is with a heavy heart that I'm letting the moon go to merge with the sun today just as the solar eclipse is happening in a few minutes," Byakuya continued in a very quiet voice.

 _This can't be my brother speaking_ , Rukia thought.

"Kurosaki couldn't have picked a better time for the ceremony of your union. I understood, though not immediately, when he explained to me why he chose this date. He has always been the sun that shines to brighten up your life and you have always been the moon that lightens up the deepest, darkest part of his."

 _Is anyone keeping a word count of Nii-sama's speech? This is the most I've heard him said so far and it looks like there's more._ Rukia remained speechless.

"During the solar eclipse, the moon moves to block the sun from the earth, shrouding the earth in darkness. But for the two of you, today is when you – the moon – will stand before Kurosaki – your sun, who will cast your silhouette upon the earth to show your existence in his light. You, in turn, will show his existence when you bring out his ring of blazing flame around you when you fully eclipse together," he finally paused before he tilted her chin with his long finger. "My wish for you is that you will both stay that way for all eternity." With that, he placed a brotherly kiss between her brows.

Rukia gasped at his most unpredictable gesture. She could feel the tears stinging in her eyes. " _Arigatou, Nii-sama_ ," she choked.

Byakuya lifted the front end of her veil to cover her face. He took a couple of steps back, his hands returning to his side. He gave her a slight nod but his face remained expressionless as he walked towards the door to give her some time to compose herself before they left for the garden outside the hotel where the ceremony was to be held.

It was obvious that the two girls who were watching the entire scene was just as stunned and choked up as Rukia was. Inoue immediately approached the bride and took both her hands in hers, giving them a squeeze before handing her a piece of tissue paper to dab the tears from her eyes.

Matsumoto placed a hand flat on Byakuya's elegantly suit-covered chest as she brushed past the captain. No one saw it but she knew he was fighting really hard to keep the blush from rising at the back of his neck. She smirked while she walked over to Rukia to check on her make-up.

* * *

Under the massive tent, the congregation watched in awe as Byakuya escorted his sister up the aisle towards her groom at the platform that was regally set up in front of them. As the priest began the ceremony to solemnise the union of Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia, up above them, the moon shifted slowly towards the anterior of the sun. And when Ichigo leaned down to capture the lips of his newly-declared wife at 10.58 am, despite it being mid-morning, there was the shadow of the moon cast upon the earth as the flame of the sun blazed around it.

* * *

 **In my part of the world, the maximum partial solar eclipse was seen on 9 March 2016 around 7.30-ish, while in Osaka, Japan, it was at 10.58 am. Compared to what was seen in Japan, the moon covered the sun almost entirely with only a thin line of crescent left from where we viewed it. We were shrouded in darkness for about four minutes or so. I didn't get to see it live, only videos of it on the Internet much later.**

 **This fic can be read as a standalone or a filler for my other IchiRuki fic** ** _Not to be used loosely_** **. There's a mention of a tiny bit of ByaKarin just like in** ** _Loosely_** **. Too much on the serious side, though. I just wanted to throw the fandom into a mess by OOC-ing the stuck up** ** _taichou_** **. Lol! Actually, I was cringing throughout those few paragraphs when I wrote Byakuya's sappy, cheesy, I-don't-know-how-else-to-describe-it declaration. I promise I will never do that to him (and all of you and me) ever again.**

 **Also, I apologise for my delay in updating** ** _Loosely_** **. I know many of you are waiting for a new chapter. I hope to get one up this weekend. I've got a few other articles to write still.**


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